Author: Legal Parivar

The Indian stock market will remain closed for trading on Thursday, December 25, on account of Christmas, as per the holiday calendar issued by the stock exchanges. Both the Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE) and the National Stock Exchange (NSE) will be shut for the day, with normal trading resuming on Friday, December 26, 2025. This is the only stock market holiday in December and the final trading holiday for the year. The Multi Commodity Exchange (MCX) will also remain closed during the morning session on December 25 but will reopen for the evening session starting at 5:00 pm. Following the…

As the Union government moves to formally close the award cycle of the Fifteenth Finance Commission (15th FC), it has alerted all ministries and state governments that no grant disbursals will be permitted after March 31. The Centre has asked states and line ministries to urgently submit claims for pending grants, with unreleased funds estimated at around ₹1.6 lakh crore, according to senior government sources. The Centre has officially communicated the March 31 cut-off to both ministries and states, emphasising that all procedural requirements must be completed within the remaining time. A senior official said that disbursals under the 15th…

Shares of Bharat Dynamics Ltd (BDL) surged nearly 5% on December 24 after the government announced the successful completion of User Evaluation Trials (UET) of the Next Generation Akash missile system (Akash-NG) by the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO). The stock of the defence PSU rose to ₹1,496.7 per share in morning trade, marking its highest level in the past 12 trading sessions. According to a press release issued on December 23, DRDO successfully carried out user evaluation trials of the Akash-NG system, during which the missile intercepted aerial targets across multiple scenarios. These included near-boundary, low-altitude engagements as…

Shares of gold financing companies rallied sharply on December 24 as gold prices climbed to lifetime highs, driven by rising geopolitical tensions and expectations of further interest rate cuts by the US Federal Reserve. Manappuram Finance emerged as the top gainer, with its stock jumping over 6% to hit a fresh 52-week high of ₹313.8 in morning trade. IIFL Finance shares advanced nearly 4% to a new 52-week high of ₹597.7, while Muthoot Finance rose more than 2% to touch a record high of ₹3,890 per share. The rally followed a sharp surge in gold prices on domestic commodity exchanges.…

Shares of Apollo Hospitals Enterprise Ltd climbed nearly 2% on December 24 after the National Stock Exchange (NSE) issued an observation letter with “no objections” to the company’s proposed multi-layered restructuring plan. The development comes after the scheme had already received approval from the Competition Commission of India (CCI) in September, as disclosed in an exchange filing. At around 11:40 am, Apollo Hospitals stock was trading 1.8% higher at ₹7,205 per share on the NSE. The restructuring will be executed in multiple phases under a composite scheme of arrangement that was approved by the boards and audit committees of Apollo…

Despite a landmark Supreme Court ruling in 2025 that offered much-needed relief to Vodafone Idea (Vi), concerns around a telecom duopoly are expected to persist into the coming year. While Vi will remain focused on stabilising operations and arresting subscriber losses, rivals Reliance Jio and Bharti Airtel are gearing up for a phase where pricing power, premiumisation, and enterprise-led growth will be decisive. Analysts expect the next major trigger for the sector to be a tariff hike in the January–March quarter. With the impact of the July 2024 tariff increase largely absorbed and Jio preparing for a potential IPO, the…

Newly listed firms Groww’s parent company, Billionbrains Garage Ventures Ltd, and eyewear retailer Lenskart Solutions Ltd are set to be included in the BSE Large Cap index starting Tuesday, 6 January 2026, according to an official notification issued on 23 December 2025. BSE Index Services, a wholly owned subsidiary of the Bombay Stock Exchange, informed investors that both companies will be inducted into the index at market open on the effective date, following the latest index reconstitution under revised methodology norms. As per the announcement, Tata Motors Ltd will be added to multiple indices including the BSE Allcap, BSE Large…

Global trading firm Jane Street Group has begun engaging more actively with policymakers in Washington, marking a shift from its traditionally low-profile approach. For the first time in nearly two decades, the firm has hired lobbyists and senior executives have held meetings with US lawmakers to explain its market-making business and rapid growth, according to people familiar with the discussions. This increased outreach comes as Indian regulators prepare to conclude a major investigation into Jane Street’s trading activities. The Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) has been probing additional strategies used by the firm, including alleged manipulation of benchmark…

he US Embassy in India has announced that its embassy in New Delhi and consulates in Mumbai, Chennai, Kolkata, Hyderabad, and Bengaluru will remain closed from Wednesday, December 24, to Friday, December 26. The shutdown follows a Presidential Executive Order issued by former US President Donald Trump, which mandates the closure of federal executive departments and agencies on these dates. While December 25 (Christmas Day) is a regular US federal holiday, the order grants additional holidays on Christmas Eve and the day after Christmas, resulting in a five-day holiday stretch for federal employees. In a post on X (formerly Twitter),…

The United States is set to introduce a major change to the H-1B visa allocation system from February 27, shifting away from the long-standing random lottery model to a wage-based selection process, according to a Bloomberg report. The new rule, released by the Trump administration, will come into force just weeks ahead of the annual spring H-1B filing season, a crucial hiring period for technology firms and other industries dependent on skilled foreign workers. End of random lottery system Currently, when H-1B applications exceed the annual cap, visas are allocated through a random lottery. Under the revised framework, applications will…